Passage

Isaiah 55.1-3

Book: Isaiah · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."

"4. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. 5. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not; and a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee." (Isaiah 55:1-5, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. “Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness. 3. Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."

"4. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. 5. Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.”" (Isaiah 55:1-5, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. ^{spend: Heb. weigh} 3. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."

"4. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. 5. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee." (Isaiah 55:1-5, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Ho, every thirsty one, come ye to the waters, And he who hath no money, Come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy Without money and without price, wine and milk. 2. Why do ye weigh money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which is not for satiety? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat good, And your soul doth delight itself in fatness. 3. Incline your ear, and come unto me, Hear, and your soul doth live, And I make for you a covenant age-during, The kind acts of David, that are stedfast."

"4. Lo, a witness to peoples I have given him, A leader and commander to peoples. 5. Lo, a nation thou knowest not, thou callest, And a nation who know thee not unto thee do run, For the sake of Jehovah thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel, Because He hath beautified thee." (Isaiah 55:1-5, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: YHWH through Second Isaiah, addressing the exilic-and-eschatological covenant-community
Audience: every-one-that-thirsteth, universal-evangelical scope opening from the immediate exilic-audience
Location: Second Isaiah's prophetic horizon
Time period: c. 540 BC; eschatologically open

Theological reading

The chapter opens the OT's most universal evangelical-summons: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." The summons binds hearing and living in a single covenant-event: "incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." The Hebrew construction deploys [[H8085 - shama|shama]] twice (shimu shamoa elai in v. 2; shimu in v. 3) and pairs it with hattu aznekem ("incline your ear", the qashab-posture-language). The hearing is causally linked to living: in the Hebrew anthropology, the hearing-that-terminates-in-doing produces life. Jesus's "if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (Jn 7:37) and "the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life" (Jn 4:14) explicitly extend this chapter's evangelical-summons. Paul's evangelistic "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17) operates on the same hearing-causes-life logic. The chapter culminates the evangelical movement of Second Isaiah's consolation-block (Isa 40-55) and prepares the universal-mission horizon developed in Third Isaiah (Isa 56-66).

Key words

H8085 - shama, shimu, the imperative-summons; the hearing-causes-living construction.

Quoted in

H8085 - shama

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.